Garment



J 'r 1 I April 7, 1970 w. R. BUSH 3,504,984

GARMENT Filed March 13, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. WALTER R. BUSHATTORNEYS zaswiaaf on masazase Y W. R. BUSH April 7, 1970 GARMENT 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 13, 1967 INVENTOR. WALTER R. BUSH ATTORN EYSUnited States Patent 3,504,984 GARMENT Walter R. Bush, West Simsbury,Conn., assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporationof Connecticut Filed Mar. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 622,484

Int. Cl. G02b 27/32, /14; B63c 11/00 US. Cl. 356256 7 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A wet suit having associated pairs of fiber opticsbundles secured to is sleeves and gloves with the object ends thereofterminating adjacent the ends of the finger stalls of the gloves or theweb between the thumb and forefinger to automatically point the objectends of the bundles toward an object to be viewed by the naturalmovement of the user. A light is provided at' the other end of one ofthe bundles to illuminate the object and the second end of the otherbundle is mounted by, the head piece to selectively support the viewingend thereof in and out of the field of view of the user. The fiber"optics bundles may be segmented and indexed to facilitate removal andassembly of the head piece and gloves of the wet suit.

This invention relates to improvements to garments and the like and isespecially significant in connection wlth garments for divers workingunder adverse conditions of illumination and visibility. I

An object of this invention is to provide a garment or other bodycovering designed to overcome the conditions of poor visibility.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dev1ce of the characterdescribed which is simple in design and efficient in use. Included inthis object is the provision of such a device which automaticallyfunctions due to the natural movements of the user.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more indetail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which is exemplifiedin; the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope of the inventionis indicated in the appended claims.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings forming part of this specification in which FIG. 1is an elevational view of an exemplary garment incorporating twoembodiments of the present invention, One associated with each arm ofthe garment;

. FIG. 2 is a fragmentary'enlarged cross-sectional view along lines 22of FIG. 1 showing a bi-stable mount suitable for use in the practice ofthe invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side view of the divers mask of FIG. 2 with theimage transmitting conduit removed;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view showing a suitable imageviewing end ofthe image transmitting conduit of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an exploded fragmentary view partly in section showing adetachable joint suitable for use in the practice of this invention; and

FIG.- 6 is a fragmentary elevation view partially broken away showing animage pickup end of the conduit of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail in which like numerals indicatelike parts throughout the several figures,

there is shown, for purposes of illustration, the application of thepresent invention a wet suit of the type conventionally used by divers.The wet suit 10is made of 3,504,984 Patented Apr. 7, 1970 of the wearerof the wet suit, an'embodiment of the invention wherein a composite pair18 of associated light transmitting conduits are secured to the sleeveof the wet suit by a strip of material 17 having its edges secured tothesleeve 19 to form a channel for receiving the pair of conduits. Thecomposite pair of conduits terminates in an image pickup or object end20 which is shown as'being similarly secured to the knuckle side and afinger stall of the glove 12 in alignment with the finger stall andterminatin'gsubstantially at the tip thereofso as to be pointed beyondthe end of theassociated finger, e.g., the index finger; it beingunderstood that the pair of conduits could be otherwise secured so as tobe automatica ly pointed by the normal movement of the arm.

In the illustrated embodiment and as best shown in FIG. 6, theassociated pair 18 of light transmitting conduits are shown ascomprising two' separate optically isolated concentrically arrangedlight transmitting condu its. The core conduit 22 is provided fortransmitting the image from the image pickup or object end 20 to theimage viewing end thereof and the peripheral conduit 26 extends to alight source schematically illustrated as power pack 28 to transmitlight to the image pickup end 20 (FIG. 1). A focusing lens 30 is shownas being provided to pickup a sharp image of the object toQbe viewed,and the peripheral conduit 26 is shown as projecting beyond the focpsinglens-30 to shield the image pickup end of core conduit 22 and lens 30from direct illumination by light delivered by peripheral conduit 26.

'As shown in FIG. 1, the image viewing end of image transmitting conduit22 shown as being rigid and as extending into and being tiltably mountedon the mask 16 for displaying the image in the field of ivision of thediver.

FIG. 1 also illustrates a somewhat, modified form of the invention,which facilitates the removal of glove 12 or mask 16 is illustrated inassociation with the left sleeve of the wet suit. In this embodiment,the associated pairs 18a of light transmitting conduits are formed witha plurality of conduit sections joined together at their ends. A joint33 suitable for use in practice of this invention is shown in FIG. 5wherein the two ends forming the joint are held in coaxial alignment bya of self-aligning coupling members 32, 34 provided with mating externaland internal tapers respectively. As shown, the hollow coupling member34 is ported as at 36 to permit the escape of trapped water in the eventthe joint is assembled underwater. The entrance portion 38 of thecoupling member 34 is shown as being of reduced cross section so as toencircle necked down portion 39 of the second coupling member 32 and toengage the peripheral shoulder 40 when assembled to secure the partstogether, it being understood that either the entrance portion 38 or thetapered end of coupling member 32 is resilient to enable the couplingmembers to be assembled. An aligning pin 42 engageable with. opening 44is provided to correlate the orientation of the joined ends of theconduit sections.

In this second embodiment, the image pickup or object end is shown asbeing secured to the hand portion of the left arm of the user by asecuring means such as an elastic glove 11 which is worn over the wetsuit glove 12. Elastic glove 11 is'shown as having no finger stalls butx I r.

having finger openings 13 to receive the fingers of glove 12 in a mannersimilar to a golf glove. With the image pickup end 20a of the compositeconduit 18a secured to elastic glove 11 to overlie the web between thethumb and index finger and pointed to the natural grasping area betweenthese fingers, it will be seen that such a mounting of the image pickupend will automatically locate it for pointing toward an object graspedby these fingers without interfering with the use of the hand. It willbe further apparent that the elastic glove 11 could be worn on a barehand without the use of the conventional wet suit glove 12, if desired.

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate one arrangement for providing a bi-stablesupport for the image viewing end 24 of the image transmitting conduit22 in and out of viewing position. As shown, the mask 16 is providedwith an internal spherical socket 46, the wall of which is provided withan elongated vertical slot 48 having a 'pair of external counterbores50, 52 spaced apart by a narrow necked portion 54. The imagetransmitting conduit 22 passes through the slot 48 in the mask and analigned aperture 56 in a spherical pad 58 which matingly engages thesocket 46. A flange 60 secured to the image transmitting conduit abuts awall of the pad 58, and an axially slidable washer 62 is resilientlybiased into either of the counterbores 50, 52 by a stack of Bellevillewashers 64 to secure the image viewing end 24 in one of its bi-stablepositions. The Belleville washers 64 bottom on a bias adjusting nut 66threaded onto a sheath of the conduit 22. With such a construction, theuser may tilt the viewing end 24 into and out of his field of view asdesired in use.

As shown in FIG. 4, the image viewing end 24 of conduit 22 is turned atan angle so as to present the viewing face thereof directly in front ofthe eye of the user. A suitable lens forming an eyepiece 24a may beprovided if required by the distance between the viewing face and theeye.

An image transmitting conduit 22 suitable for use in the practice ofthis invention may be formed by a bundle of a multiplicity of opticallydistinct fibers of small diameter and comprising highly transparentglass or plastic cores coated with a glass or plastic covering of lowerrefractive index. The ends of the bundle of fibers are secured or bondedtogether so that the individual fibers at the two ends have a similarplacement or orientation relative to each other to produce at one endthe image picked up at the other.

The light transmitting conduit 26 may be formed in a similar manner, andas illustrated in the drawings may encircle the image transmittingconduit 22 to provide a composite pair of associated conduits. Such acomposite conduit is preferably covered with a protective sheath such assheath 31 (FIG. 6) formed of any suitable material, for example, anepoxy resin and the bundles of fibers forming either conduit 22 orconduit 26 may be of any desired cross section. A light transmittingconduit. formed of a bundle of fibers as hereinbefore described isinherently flexible along any longitudinal portion thereof in which theindividual fibers are not bonded together. It will therefore be readilyapparent that the longitudinal portions of the conduits 22 and 26 mayreadily be made flexible so as to flex with the movement of the user asdesired or rigid as for example at the image viewing end 24.

It will be apparent that image transmitting conduits, one associatedwith each hand, may be utilized so that an object may be seenstereoptically or alternatively, two

objects may be viewed simultaneously. Moreover, while one specificmanner is disclosed for securing the conduits for movement in accordancewith the normal movement of the arms and hands of the user, it isapparent that the conduits may be secured in another manner as, forexample, by a pair of parallel conduits attached to move with diflerentfingers of a hand, within the scope of this invention.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various othermodifications and adaptations of the structure above described willbecome readily apparent.

I claim:

1. A garment having a sleeve with an associated pair of lighttransmitting conduits secured thereto to extend longitudinally thereof,each of said conduits having an object end positioned substantially atthe free end of said sleeve and a second end remote therefrom nearer theattached end of the sleeve; a light source placed at the second end ofone of said conduits for transmitting light along said one of saidconduits and beyond its object end; means for positioning said objectends adjacent the free end of the garment wearers arm so that saidobject ends may be pointed by the normal movement of said arm toward anobject to be illuminated and viewed; said garment including means forpositioning the second end of the other of said conduits to present theimages of an object to be viewed in the field of view of the wearer.

2. A garment as recited in claim 1 wherein an associated pair of lighttransmitting conduits is secured to each of the sleeves of the garment.

3. A garment as recited in claim 1 wherein the gar= ment includes aheadpiece and the second end of said other of said associated pair ofconduits is movably mounted relative to the headpiece for positioningthe same in and out of the field of view of the wearer.

4. A garment as recited in claim 3 wherein the garment includes a gloveand the object ends of the conduits are mounted on the knuckle side ofthe glove.

5. A garment as recited in claim 4 wherein the glove is provided withfinger stall means and the object ends of the conduits are mounted tomove with said stall means and terminate adjacent the tip thereof.

6. A garment as recited in claim 4 wherein the object ends of saidconduits are mounted to overlie the web of the glove between the thumband index fingers of the wearer to point the same toward an objectgrasped between said fingers.

7. A garment as recited in claim 4 wherein said conduits arelongitudinally segmented and indexed to facilitate the removal of theglove and the headpiece and to orient the same upon assembly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,655,663 10/1953 Hoagland 2-2.1X 3,020,806 2/ 1962 Castrucci 350-96 X 3,216,778 11/1965 Davies et al.350-96 X 3,285,242 11/ 1966 Wallace 128-23 3,391,405 7/1968 Wiswell2-2.1

FOREIGN PATENTS 449,770 7/ 1936 Great Britain. 1,076,538 7/1967 GreatBritain. 1,103,172 3/ 1961 Germany. 1,229,748 12/ 1966 Germany.

RONALD L. WI-BERT, Primary Examiner R. J. WEBSTER, Assistant ExaminerU.S. Cl. X11.

